Today’s good question comes from Adam Salem, from FRC Team 3419, The Rohawks, out of New York City, New York, USA:

Question:

Hi Frank,

My name is Adam Salem and I am a mentor on team 3419. I read your note about increasing the size of nationals and think it's a terrific idea. I have a suggestion about how to select some of the additional teams. One of the awards for engineering the robot (either the Excellence in Engineering Award...

A few of our FRC Staff, including Collin Fultz, will be at the Indiana Robotics Invitational, arguably the premiere off-season event in FRC. As some of you may know from an earlier blog, Collin is transitioning to his new role as FRC Team Advocate. Please see his note below.

One of the best parts of working at FIRST is travelling to various events and regions to learn about the teams in that area. Hearing the passion and ideas that students, mentors, and...

Please see the note below from our 2015 Control System Development Team.

First, we want to thank the more than 200 FRC Teams who applied to be Beta Test Teams for the 2015 Control System. The selected teams are at the bottom of this blog post. Here are the expectations of our Beta Test teams:

Oh, sorry, I was typing too fast. A movie Team Appreciate’s robot is in earned $100M over the weekend. Team Appreciate’s cut has not been made public, but let’s just say you can expect to see a substantial increase in their bot bling for the 2015 season.

Their robot from the 2012 season appears in the new Transformers movie*, shooting basketballs. The main character in the film even speaks to it. You can check out more info on Team Appreciate’s Facebook page.

Today’s good question comes from Antonio Papa, from FRC Team 2590, Nemesis, out of Robbinsville, New Jersey, USA:

Question:

In previous years MAR and Michigan have always published supplemental rules to define how teams advance in addition to explaining the points structure. This year FIRST has taken over the points structure but hasn't published any supplemental rules. Rules were instead spread out over multiple blog posts or not explained clearly at all. Will FIRST be publishing supplemental rules for Districts next year to clearly...

We’ve just started posting event dates and locations for which we have confirmed information. ‘Confirmed’ means either that FIRST HQ has a signed agreement with the venue, or that District organizers have passed along to us firm information on their events. Please keep in mind that even though we may have signed contracts with the venues, things still can change! It’s...

Many of you have probably already heard, but I’m pleased to announce that the state of Indiana will be joining the ranks of our FRC Districts for the 2015 season. This will be our fifth District, along with Michigan, the Mid Atlantic, New England, and the Pacific Northwest. Indiana is the only District we are adding for the 2015 season.

All teams within the state will automatically become part of the District.

With their wonderful volunteer base and their great experience running high-quality off-season events, they are sure to be successful....

Today’s good question comes from Jay O’Donnell, from FRC Team 1058, PVC Pirates, out of Londonderry, New Hampshire, USA:

Question:

Hey Frank,

I was part of the New England District this past year and I have to say overall it was a very positive experience. However, the one thing I did not like was the timing between when teams were announced for NE champs and the event, and the timing between teams being invited to world championships and the actual event. I know that there were teams invited to...

Please see the note below from FRC Program Coordinator, Hannah Foust. Among other things, Hannah is responsible for our survey activity.

I know that we have a lot of surveys in FRC, but we’re asking for your feedback one more time in the Post Season Survey. For the 2014 post season wrap-up, we are seeking feedback on items like the FRC Email Blasts, Dean’s List Interview process, and game design.

Once the survey is over, we plan to share the data we collect. We use these surveys to help us make important...

Today’s good question comes from Brian R., from FRC Team 2383, The Ninjineers, out of Plantation, Florida, USA:

Question:

I’d like to ask you more about the format of the World Championships next season and in the future. I am really excited about the expanded FRC championships. I’d like to know about how many teams will be there, how they will compete, and how they will get there. For example, will there be 600 teams? Will there be 6 or 8 fields? Would regional finalists or other specific award winners be invited to St. Louis? Also, has...

Remember Frank Answers Fridays? We’re starting it back up. Send your good questions about FRC to goodfrcquestion@usfirst.org. As I said in the original blog about this feature last year, “A ‘good’ question is one that has broad applicability to the FRC program, addresses a key issue, and is well thought out.” I may not be able to answer a question every Friday, but I’...

Have you taken a look at the FIRST Career page lately? We’ve got some job openings in FRC we’re working to fill.

We are looking for a Systems Engineer, who will work for Electrical Engineering Manager Matt Pilotte, and will be supporting the development of game, field, and robot systems. This position requires, at minimum, a BS in Engineering or Computer Science and five years of experience. See full details on the website.

At the 2014 Kickoff, we encountered some challenges in making sure all teams received their kits as expected either at their Kickoff location or via MySite shipment. In some cases, teams were missing major sets of Kickoff Kit items, such as entire totes or drive bases. Missing major sets of items like these did not happen to a high percentage of teams, but when something like this does happen, it’s obvious this can significantly impact a team’s schedule and their ability to be successful. A task force was formed...